I have been thinking about gender in antitrust for an ongoing empirical project in which I am examining among other things why economic analysis of law has taken a monopoly position within the US legal academy but why we have not seen a similar transformation in IP or tax, two other areas of economic regulation. I have discovered that the gender numbers for antitrust in the academy may be the worst for any substantive area of law.

TOTAL PROFESSORS TEACHING IN US LAW SCHOOLS

Year

Antitrust

IP

Tax

1957

157

16

87

1967

153

88

388

1977

295

195

726

1987

289

198

573

1997

297

314

567

2007

312

512

608

FEMALES

Year

Antitrust

IP

Tax

1957

2

0

3

1967

2

2

5

1977

10

8

38

1987

17

26

83

1997

22

62

106

2007

36

134

137

In 1957, women professors in antitrust and trade regulation (there is no separate antitrust category so this number may include some consumer protection people) made up less than 2 percent of those teaching antitrust. Fast forward to 2007 and women teaching antitrust (those writing in antitrust for a majority of their publications is even smaller - more on this in a later post) make up only 12 percent of the full time antitrust legal academy who have ever taught antitrust.

It is therefore great to report that the Global Competition Review has released Women in Antitrust 2009 with profiles of the world's leading female antitrust practitioners.

My only quibble with the list is that it seems to omit top female economists and in-house people. On the margins there are a few additional practitioners that have been particularly important in shaping global antitrust policy that I would have included.